Bottle-capping machine



March 18,1930. J. ASKEY ,7

BOTTLE CAPPING MACHINE Filed Sept. 13, 1926 .9 I g 2 2 X 5 Q 9* 12Patented Mar. 18, 1930 UNITE TAT-s JAMES ASKEY, OF LONDON, ENGLANDBOTTLE-GAPPING MACHINE Application filed September 13, 1926, Serial No.135,273, and in Great Britain April 30, 1926.

A well known type of cap closure for securement over the mouths ofbottles or other containers is a closure of simple cap forma tion and isadapted to be secured over the mouth of a complementary container formedwith an over hanging shoulder around its neck, by virtue of the skirt ofsaid cap having its edge inwardly turned so that it engages under saidshoulder.

The present invention relates to, and has for its object the provisionof improvements in bottle capping machines and particularly to means forsecuring cap closures of this kind in situ over the mouths of suchcomplementary containers.

The invention consists broadly of a capping device comprising meansadapted to abut against the top of said closure when the same is in situover the mouth of the con- 2 tainer and a number of annularly arrangedparts adapted subsequently to close in radially upon said skirt of saidclosure and thereby turn the edge of said skirt inwardly so that itengages under the shoulder of the con 95 tainer as above described.

Preferably said annularly arranged parts are adapted to be spun aroundtheir common centre as said parts close in, and thus a smooth finish ofthe turned over edge of said skirt is obtained.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of a cappingdevice in accordance with the invention.

Figure 2 is a similar view of the same with the so called tool holdershown in section so that the so called tool element is visible.

Figure 3 is an under plan of the same.

Figure 4 is a cross section of the so called tool element.

Referring to these drawings said capping device comprises a number ofequal segmental pieces 1 of an annulus, which segmental pieces areseparately supported from a base ring 2 by means of respective flatsprings 3 in such a way that, as clearly shown, said segmental piecesform the said annulus except for small clearances which exist betweenthem, the base ring 2 being coaxial with said annulus and said flatsprings 3 being substantially parallel to the common axis of said saidnormal position (shown in the drawings) base ring and annulus. Said fiatsprings are sufficiently flexible easily to permit the segmentalpieces'to close in radially and thus reduce the effective circumferenceof the annulus.

Said segmental pieces 1 are formed each with a part 1 such that theseveral parts 1* constitute for the complete annulus a skirt extendingfrom the side remote from said base ring. These parts 1 moreover areformed as at 1 so that at its outer periphery said skirt expands, in themanner of a bell, as it approaches its edge, and said parts are furtherformed with flanges 1 such as to constitute at the inner periphery ofsaid skirt an inwardly projecting ridge adjacent its edge.

Located within said annulus is a thrust member 4 which is of generallycylindrical form and is arranged with its axis coincident with the axisof said annulus and said base ring 2. Said thrust member is supported itto rotate about its axis but which restrain it from movementlongitudinally of said axis. Said thrust member has an enlarged head 4at its lower end which head is circumscribed by the aforesaid skirt ofsaid annulus with its lower surface at a level above the lower edge ofsaid skirt as shown. 9

The whole structure above described constitutes the tool elementhereinbefore referred to. This tool element is carried by the toolholder hereinbefore referred to, which tool holder comprises a hollowcylinder 5 having one end substantially closed and the other end open.The tool element is carried within said hollow cylinder with the basering 2 towards the closed end thereof and separated-from said closed endby means of a helical spring 6, and with the skirt of the annulusprojecting out of the open end of said cylinder. The tool and the toolholder are maintained at a definite normal relative position by virtueof the fact that said helical spring 6 presses said base ring 2outwardly against a screw'stop 7 projecting inwardly through the wall ofsaid cylinder. In the the skirt of the annulus. projects some distancebeyond the open end of the vcylinder closure.

and the segmental pieces are held by the flat springs far enough apartto permitthe skirt of the annulus to surround the skirt of the Whenhowever the tool element'is pressed further into the cylinder in opposistion to the said helical spring the segmental piecesl-are closed inradiallytowards one another by the'co operation of the skirt of theannulus (which as aforesaid expands at its outer periphery in the mannerof a bell) with the outer edge of said hollow cylinder. y

In operation the device by means of the'tool holder, is pressed, whileat the same time being spun aboutits axis, down onto the closure, untilthe head a of the thrust member 4 rests on-the topof said closure withthe skirt otsaid annulus surrounding the skirt of said closure. .1The'downward and rotary movement of the tool holder is continued afterthe said head 4* has thus abutted against the closure and thus said toolelement is pressed further into said cylinder and said segmental piecesare closed in towards one another as above described; In this way thesaid ridge on the inner periphery of the skirt of the annulusis made toclose in upon the skirtoi the closure andbend the edge of the sameinwardly so that it engages under the shoulder roundthe neck of thecontainer. The thrust element What. I claim anddesire to secure by Letters" Patent is 1; The combination with a thrust member having an upperhead and a lower head, of a having a complementary interior, annular,

flaring face. r p r 2. The combination with'a thrust member having alower annular head and an upper 7 head, of a rotatable ring and ballbearings between'sa1d ring and upper head, a compressible ringsurrounding the lower head and comprisingoutset segments, fiat springssuspending the segments from the rotatablering, V

a depressible, rotary, tool-holder and a spring:

between said holder andsaid rotatable ring, said holder having a loweropen end and an inner flaring face at its lower edge, and said segmentshaving complementary v outer tapered' faces. j p I r In witnesswhereof-lath): my signature. 1

I, .JAMES ASKEY,

4 will cease spinning when it engages the top of said closure, but theremainder including the segmental pieces will continue spinning owing tothe engagement of the screw stop 7": Y with one of the adjacent flatsprings 3 and the segmental pieces will be spinning when they close inupon the skirt of the closure and turn the edge. of said skirt inwardly;A smooth surface of said turned forebe obtained. a

over edge will there- Describing nowcertain constructional details'ofthe device the thrust member tis retained against downward movementrelative to the base ring 2 by means of a nut'8 screwed on a reducedextension from the upper end of said member 4 and a flat retaining ring9 surrounding said reduced extension and interposed between said nut 8and the upperv end of said base ringi2. Against upward movement relativeto sald base ring said thrust member is retained bymeans ofballfbearings 10 interposed between an annular flange 11 formedintegrally around said 7 thrust member and a second retaining ring 12supported by the underside of said base ring 2. The ball bearings onlybecome operative when the thrust member is pressed upwardly relative tosaid base ring but it will be clear that in the present case this is allthat is: required. I ;"'The tool holder is adapted to be secured to themachine by which it is spun andpressed down, by means of an arm l3having an enlarged lower end '13 screwed into the upper end ofsaidcylinder 5;

